About the Curriculum

The hallmark of Rowan's College of Engineering is a four-year Engineering Clinic sequence. All engineering students (chemical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical/computer engineering) upon entering Rowan are immediately immersed into engineering fundamentals in the Freshman Engineering Clinic. This year-long course is designed to give students some exposure to all four engineering disciplines, and some practical, hands-on experience. Favorite Freshman Clinic activities have included a reverse-engineering module in which students analyze a beer-brewing process and a module called Hands on the Human Body in which students examine chemical and mechanical processes within their own bodies. The freshman clinic is complemented by courses in chemistry, physics, calculus, computer science and composition.

In the sophomore year, Chemical engineering students take their first chemical engineering, Principles of Chemical Processes. This again is a year long course in which mass and energy balances are introduced to the student. In addition to this course chemical engineers take Organic Chemistry, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Mathematics and course in Biological systems and Applications. This course is required of all chemical engineering students and introduces them to the aspects of biology and microbiology that are essential for engineers to work in the sustainable industries of the future. In addition, to these courses is the Sophomore Engineering Clinic, in which students solve open-ended engineering design problems, and also gain practical experience in technical writing and public speaking.

The Junior/Senior Engineering Clinic gives each student the opportunity to work on engineering problems for four full semesters. These projects are multidisciplinary and range from original research to industrially funded technical problems. Students work in multi-disciplinary teams and work under close faculty supervision to study and solve new and important engineering problems.

Most of the chemical engineering clinic projects are funded by companies or agencies outside the university, and many produce results that are publishable.

In addition, juniors and seniors take courses such as Heat and Mass Transfer, Separation Processes, Reaction Engineering and Process Dynamics and Control. Through electives, you can emphasize your area of special interest, such as Materials Engineering, Green/Sustainable Engineering and Biological/Biochemical Engineering.

For specific courses in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum click here. For a curriculum flowchart click here.